1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of airport security and more particularly to a method and system for identifying and tracking a passenger or employee in and through airports.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known in the art of airport security to provide an identification badge to employees. Passengers on the other hand are identified only by a single photo ID that may be presented at check-in time. Security consists entirely of two questions concerning baggage. No check is made on the passenger and the passenger's whereabouts is not tracked. The only other encounter where anything is checked is when the passenger checks into a flight. Here a boarding pass is presented and the passenger boards the aircraft. There is no verification that the same passenger who checked in is the one that boarded, and it is very easy for a boarded passenger to exit the aircraft after boarding without being noticed by anyone. In short, security at airports is minimal as to who a passenger is and where the passenger is.
Prior art systems have proposed electronic tickets and smartcards that can be carried by passengers. Tuttle in particular in U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,671 teaches a system for locating an individual in a facility where a portable wireless transponder device is borne by the individual. Tuttle's device resembles a standard security badge with a possible photo of the individual on the badge. Tuttle's invention is directed toward location of employees who would wear such badges. Tuttle also teaches that a passenger could also possess such an ID and be located. However, Tuttle makes no reference to any type of security checking of the individual. U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,671 is hereby incorporated by reference.
Yokozawa et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,369 teach an information delivery system and portable information terminal where an individual possesses a smartcard type of wireless device and can be tracked by a wireless system. Yokozawa also teaches a person passing through a check-in gate with the gate itself recognizing and communicating with the portable device by wireless means. While Yokozawa teaches a wireless device carried by a passenger, this reference also fails to mention any security aspects of the situation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,369 is hereby incorporated by reference.
The prior art thus teaches systems where passengers and/or employees carry wireless smartcards that communicate in data bases; however, none of these systems solve the tremendous security problem that exists at airports where potential passengers could be terrorists, felons or other dangerous persons, and whether a passenger actually boards a flight and remains on the plane, and whether the passenger actually arrives and exits a second or subsequent airport. In the current airport system and prior art systems, there is no connection or relationship between airline database information and security database information.
What is badly needed in the art is a method and system of airport security where a passenger can be positively identified at check-in time, tracked at all times in that airport, tracked while boarding an aircraft, tracked upon arrival at a second or subsequent airport, and noted when exiting a final airport. In addition, a system is badly needed that ties into police or FBI databases to identify dangerous people in the airport or approaching flights or boarding aircraft and then leaving the craft before takeoff.